Family Constellation Therapy Demystified

Dr Geetanjali Saxena, a trained facilitator, explains it as simply as possible:

Each one of us has an individual consciousness

We are all connected to each other through our collective consciousness (called our Family Constellation). That which holds and weaves both into one is called the spiritual consciousness.

When there is an ‘exclusion’ of a member of a family from any one of these states of consciousness, it can manifest as an illness or disorder in the life of another member in the same system, in the same or subsequent generations.

For instance, if an aborted child is not mourned or remembered with fondness, this ‘exclusion’ can manifest in another member of this family’s constellation, during the same or another generation. It can take the form of any illness: physical or psychological, minor or major (including cancer).

How ‘Family Constellation Therapy’ Works?

Family constellation is best done in a group. For every family member including himself, the young man (the client) picks out a group member, a male group member for a male relative and a woman for a female relative. They are his chosen representatives.

The people so chosen don’t need to know anything about the original family; they only need to know the role they have been placed in and the roles others have been placed in (father, mother, son, daughter, etc.) The client, intuitively, gives every representative including himself, a place in the room and a direction, forming the constellation. Beyond this, he does not assign a body posture or a specific feeling.

Amazingly, and quite mysteriously, the representatives placed in this constellation gain access to the feelings and relationships of the family member they are representing! They begin to feel real emotions of fear, loss and needs. When these emotions are identified and met with love, acts of inclusion, remembrance and forgiveness, the Constellation can be made complete and brought to a new equilibrium. The unexplained individual issues fall away and healing occurs.